Thread by @Gray_Mackenzie

A development in the House of Commons. The bells foyer are ringing, which means members should return to the House. Let’s see what this is all about. #cdnpoli #covid19

If there was any urgency to rush people back in, you don’t feel it from the HoC gallery. Minister Champagne just got out of his seat and told a CPC MP that he was going to get a slice of pizza and that he’d be back. There are currently no Liberal MP’s in the house #cdnpoli

The deputy Speaker Bruce Stanton and Government House Leader Pablo Rodriguez just went in the speakers chambers to have a discussion, just as Transport Minister Marc Garneau showed up for the Liberals. #cdnpoli #covid19

NEW - We’re expecting the House of Commons to reconvene at 6:25 ET, in roughly 5 minutes. We’ll see if we have a deal on the #covid19 air package or if the government is just looking to extend sitting hours to keep negotiations going #cdnpoli

So the government House Leader receives unanimous concent from the House to extend the regular sitting hours and to potentially call back the House later tonight. Looks like we’re still at a stale mate to figure out the #covid19 relief package #cdnpoli

For those keeping track at home (@_rachelHanes) by my count there were 32 MP’s in the house for the last vote. Singh, Scheer, Blanchet, Freeland, Champagne, Hajdu, Blair, Hussen, and potential unanimous consent spoiler CPC MP Scott Reid #cdnpoli

Government House Leader Pablo Rodriguez just walked in the House and told a group of CPC MP’s that the government has given a new draft proposal to the Conservatives of the #covid19 relief bill. Rodriguez says he expect it’ll take a few hours to review #cdnpoli

Update from the Gallery of the House of Commons

Nothing is happening. LPC MP Will Amos is reading the paper and Greg Fergus is watching something on his Ipad. None of the other 32 MP’s are in the chamber and we have no indication when a deal could be reached #cdnpoli #covid19

Just asked Scott Reid if we have a deal

Reid - “Not me personally” #cdnpoli #covid19

Talked with CPC MP Micheal Chong in the foyer a few minutes ago. He says as of now there isn’t a deal in place but he expects one to be complete tonight. No time frame on the bill getting to the House but he’s willing to work through the night to get it done #cdnpoli

Should also add that I spoke with Deputy Speaker Bruce Stanton earlier tonight, and got a little procedural primer from him on how the night could look. Here’s what he said…#cdnpoli #covid19

Basically, he is waiting for word from the various House Leaders that the House is ready to meet back up. When that happens, the bells with ring in the Foyer, giving all 32 MP’s 30 minutes to get back to the House for things to restart. #cdnpoli #covid19

At that point we could have a deal, there could be debate or there could a motion to adjourn and return to work on this tomorrow. I have a hard time thinking the latter will happen, there is major pressure on all parties to get something done tonight #cdnpoli #covid19

Final point from Stanton, time doesn’t move in the House of Commons. Even if the #covid19 aid bill is passed tomorrow morning, it will have occurred on March 24th in the eyes of the chamber. One of those weird things that happens with late night sittings #cdnpoli #covid19

An attendance update. Right now three MP’s Scott Reid, Micheal Chong and Greg Fergus are having a friendly chat in the chamber. No sign of anyone else or that a deal is close to coming to the House at this point #cdnpoli #covid19

Just talked to another Conservative source who said the same thing Bergen did. Seems like the CPC are not too pleased with how things are going right now #cdnpoli #covid19

https://twitter.com/CandiceBergenMP/status/1242654308329545728

The same source told me the original CPC plan was to split the bill in 2.

Bill 1 - $82B in aid
Bill 2 - future spending powers and other measures

This source says its very likely the bill will end up being one big bill, with concessions on both sides #cdnpoli #covid19

Just spoke with Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer in the House of Commons Foyer #cdnpoli #covid19

“There have been on going discussions with the government … but all this could have been passed by 4 pm this evening”

Scheer says the Conservatives have not agreed to a #covid19 aid package deal at this point

“We have not yet seen a finalized version of what the government has come back with” but adds that “he remains optimistic” a deal can get done #cdnpoli

The Conservatives now have received the proposed #covid19 legislation and are reviewing it, as per a Conservative source. We’ll see how long things take and if we have an agreement #cdnpoli

So the Democrats and Republicans have come up with a #covid19 deal in the States before Canada did. I did not have that on my Coronavirus bingo card #cdnpoli

https://twitter.com/josh_wingrove/status/1242679076659306496

Attendance update in the House - As the opposition reviews the changes the Liberals have made to the #covid19 legislation, Conservative MP Scott Reid is the only MP in the chamber. His head is on his desk and he looks like he’s asleep #cdnpoli #covid19

The House of Commons is going to reconvene at 3:15 ET. There will be speeches and questions to Ministers about the proposed #covid19 aid package #cdnpoli

The expectation is this thing can be wrapped up by 5:30 am ET. We’ll see if that actually happens but that would be very nice, cause I’m starting to get a little tired and I still need to work tomorrow! #cdnpoli

The Government House Leader confirms that MP’s will be back in the House soon. Looks like we’ve got a deal to get $82 B in #covid19 relief money out the door. We should get the text soon so we can see what changes were made #cdnpoli

https://twitter.com/pablorodriguez/status/1242701341887205378

The bells are ringing to give MP’s a 30 minute warning to come back to the House. For some MP’s, the bells might serve as an alarm clock #cdnpoli #covid19

Looks like we’ve got a deal! Here are some of the details #cdnpoli #covid19

https://twitter.com/PierrePoilievre/status/1242703703280357376

MP’s are back in the house. Morneau is tabling the #covid19 bill right now. #cdnpoli

There are 31 MP’s in the House right now, not including three Conservative MP’s who have come into the Gallery to watch the proceedings. #cdnpoli #covid19

Pablo Rodriguez is laying out a bunch of the new #covid19 rules #cdnpoli

One of them - A by-weekly report to the finance committee from the Finance Minister on new spending and Morneau will speak at the Finance Committee to update MP’s on what’s going on #cdnpoli

THe House of Commons was turned into a committee of the whole for an hour. Scheer is up first #cdnpoli #covid19

Scheer - Now that they’ve changed the bill, we are in a position to support this going ahead #cdnpoli #covid19

Scheer asks Morneau if he is willing to increase help for small business, including increasing wage subsidies

Morneau outlines why he think the plan is amazing, but doesn’t answer the question #cdnpoli #covid19

Scheer asks if the Finance Minister will rule out using quantitative easing to deal with the economic impact of #covid19

Morneau - BoC is independent and they make their own decisions #cdnpoli

Singh asks if the finance minister will accept the NDP proposal to send $2000 to each Canadian

Morneau points to the newly created Emergency Care Benefit as a way to help people who don’t have EI #cdnpoli #covid19

Singh - What’s the plan for Indigenous communities?

Morneau - We put $300 M in our package for Indigenous communities and if Singh has suggestions, we’ll consider them #cdnpoli #covid19

Singh - Will you increase the wage subsidy to 75%?

Morneau - Doesn’t really answer the q but references the emergency care benefit to make sure people are helped when they need it #cdnpoli #covid19

Employment Minister Qualtrough says 1300 civil servants have been transferred to work on EI claims in her department, to help deal with the expected major backlog of claims #cdnpoli #covid19

Good question by @DanAlbas on if people who work in seasonal industries like fishing, would be eligible for EI, if a job they have disappears cause of EI.

Qualtrough says that if they meet the basic EI requirements, they would be able to get EI #cdnpoli #covid19

Champagne on Canadians still abroad - No one is going to be left behind for those who can’t come home we will provide them consular services #cdnpoli #covid19

Patty Hajdu says that the government is going to be looking at domestic production for #covid19 supplies. Looks like an unofficial Buy Canada policy might be put in place #cdnpoli

Alleslev - Will the government will set the prices and the amount of #Covid19 supplies that they will buy from businesses?

Patty Hajdu - Short answer is yes, we will work with industry to make sure they make what we need #cdnpoli

Uppal - Will the government postpone the upcoming Carbon Tax increase?

Morneau - doesn’t answer the question #cdnpoli

Q - Can a small business owner working to save his business still get the Emergency Care Benefit?

Morneau - If the business has no revenue, they’ll be able to apply for the benefit #cdnpoli

Q - How will the feds help Municipalities?

Hussen - $157 M for homeless, in 58 communities #cdnpoli #covid19

Chong - When is the budget & fiscal update?

Morneau - We want to make sure we have the right info… but doesn’t give any dates #cdnpoli #covid19

Q - Will we adopt the South Korean model to help deal with #covid19?

Hajdu - We’re studying lots of models and ways to deal with Covid-19 #cdnpoli

Q - How will we ramp up testing?

Hajdu - We’ve done 120K to date, I will note that is more than the US in total. We’re working with the provinces to get testing increased #cdnpoli #covid19

Q - How will you help renters?

Morneau - We continue to work on this challenge, one of the main goals of our benefits is to get money into peoples hands as quick as possible #cdnpoli

Q - Is the government considering letting people withdraw money from their RRSP tax free right now and pay it back later?

Morneau - We think we’ve found an approach that will be done in an effective manor and to help people who need help now #cdnpoli #covid19

It is 4:31 am! That means that committee of the whole is now over. Sad!

We’re now on to second reading where will we have some debate! #cdnpoli

Morneau says that his godson and sister both have #covid19. The good news is Morneau says they’re both doing well #cdnpoli #covid19

Bergen - We all recognize how difficult this is for the government and I’m pleased we are all working together to put the needs of all of Canadians first #cdnpoli #covid19

It’s 4:45 am and Treasury Board President @jyduclos just showed up in the House. I didn’t see him here earlier today, so I’m not sure why he‘s not in bed like a responsible Minister should be at this late hour #cdnpoli

It’s 5 am. An MP’a alarm, which I assume was to wake them up on a normal day, just went off.

The estimate before was that proceedings would wrap up by 5:30, so we’re almost done #cdnpoli #covid19

Most MP’s are sitting in their seats listening to the speeches and questions or are scrolling on their phones. The exception is Deputy PM Freeland who is frantically reading briefing notes, highlight pages and typing away on her phone #cdnpoli #covid19

We’re now hearing a speech from Jagmeet Singh. Once this is done, we hear from Green MP Jenica Atwin, then I think the bill goes up for a vote. We’re going to miss the 5:30 deadline but this should be wrapped up by 6 #cdnpoli #covid19

MIchael Chong just stood up and said he could not support this bill because there is a section that would allow the Minister of Employment to amend a law with only the consent of the FInance Minister. We’ll see how this impacts a potential unanimous consent vote #cdnpoli

Jenica Atwin is up giving a speech on behalf of the Green Party “and the independent member from Granville” aka JWR. She’s talking about how she drove to Ottawa from Fredericton with her husband and two young kids, only stopping for gas on the ten hour drive #cdnpoli #covid19

Conservative MP Scott Reid, who many thought could be a potential spoiler to have the #covid19 aid bill from receiving unanimous consent, is no longer in the House. We’ll see if he comes back in to vote #cdnpoli

BREAKING - After marathon negotiations, the House of Commons adopted a modified version of the governments $82 billon #covid19 aid package at 5:51 AM ET. The Senate will now receive Bill C-13 later today. #cdnpoli #covid19

The House of Commons is now adjourned until April 20th. MP’s are now quickly headed for the exits #cdnpoli #covid19

One final point @MichaelChongMP was the only MP who did not support Bill C-13 but the Bill passed regardless. I will leave it to Mr. Chong to explain his objections and how the Bill passed without unanimous consent because he knows considerably more about this than I do!

And with that, I’m going home!

Hope people have enjoyed following along. It’s a scary time for a lot people but we’re going to get through this together. Getting this legislation passed tonight will help a lot of business and people who need it. #cdnpoli

Also, @NapierJoyce, I’m coming in late tomorrow.